The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
PLAYINGWAITINGGAME
CaleyThistlechiefsaysclubwantstoseetesteventresultsbeforeplanningforfans’return
Caley Thistle chief executive Scot Gardiner says Scottish Premiership test events will dictate whether fans will be able to attend matches by the time the Championship season starts.
Although top-flight matches have been played behind closed doors so far due to coronavirus, the Scottish Government has indicated it will likely permit up to three games to be held in front of small crowds this weekend.
Ross County’s home game against Celtic is likely to be given the go-ahead to be played in front of fans, along with Rangers’ match against Dundee United and one other fixture.
Should the test events be a success it could pave the way for supporters to attend all matches, ahead of the start of the lower league season on October 17.
Gardiner insists the results of the test events must be considered before provisions can be made for the entry of fans.
He said: “We are all the same – we all think football is rubbish without fans.
“But if you can only get 700 in a 67,000-seater Murrayfield, then how does that roll out around the place?
“Bearing in mind we are Championship and not Premiership, what are the cost implications for us to do it in relation to how these test events turn out?
“We are hopeful but pragmatic. Our first priority is to get the place safe to play the games, and if we then get told the things we have to do in order to have X number in, of course we will be on to that. At the moment there’s too much guesswork and thinking in the air.
“We will let other people work through on the test events – which is why they are called that.
“By the time we start in October, I’m sure we will all be better informed. It’s not at the forefront because it can’t be right now, we would just be guessing.”
Gardiner says the test events will allow clubs the chance to react to any aspects of which don’t run smoothly, adding: “There is no point in jumping ahead because I guarantee they will discover things they find don’t work.
“I’m not putting a tonne of energy into that until we see what happens with the test events. We will wait and see what people announce to us in relation to what they learned from it.
“We are not doing any physical work in relation to that until we know what the guidelines are.
“We had already started to do something based on guidelines, but then the guidelines changed and all the work we did went out the window. There is no point in working on something until we know what’s going to happen.”
Inverness are in the process of installing a Pixellot camera to allow for matches to be streamed online in the event of supporters not being able to attend.
Gardiner added: “We have new fibre optics and camera going in for streaming because at the moment there will be no fans, so we’ve got to plan for that unless we are told differently.”